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Servanthood
Write brief job description of a servant based on the following verses: Gen. 24:2–4; 39:4–6; Luke 14:17; 17:7, 8; Acts 2:18.
Being a servant means primarily that one puts aside one’s own wants, wishes, and comfort and involves oneself totally in someone else’s life. A servant is there to assist the master in carrying out the master’s plans, wishes, and activities. Sometimes being a servant involves carrying messages, accompanying someone, acting for the person, and doing menial jobs that needed to be done. At other times it involves managing finances and households, but always the servant acts not to further his own ends but to further his master’s.
Gehazi was the servant of prophet Elisha. Being a servant to a prophet was a unique privilege. It involved more than menial labor. It was a type of apprenticeship. Elisha himself had served as Elijah’s servant (1 Kings 19:19–21). Although the job of prophet depended on a divine call, it would seem that this special time of serving together helped the would-be prophet develop his faith and trust in God. By serving his master Elijah, Elisha would be learning to put himself aside and serve others. This would prove to be the best qualification for any future ministry. We have no record of Gehazi’s calling, but we will see the opportunities that he was given.
This servant idea is by no means restricted to Old Testament times. Jesus said that the willingness to be a servant was a prerequisite for any leadership position in the church (Mark 9:35).
Read John 13:1–17. How does this passage show the link between leadership and servanthood?
The disciples have been with Jesus for three years. They have learned from His teachings, they have even shared in His healing ministry, and yet they are not ready to go out as God’s ambassadors. They were ready to learn in theory and enjoyed the association with Jesus, but they still were not prepared to put themselves aside and humbly serve one another.
How do we get the humility and the death-to-self needed in order to serve others? How do we learn to serve others with an attitude of seeking nothing back for ourselves?
| SUNDAY | December 12 |
Write brief job description of a servant based on the following verses: Gen. 24:2–4; 39:4–6; Luke 14:17; 17:7, 8; Acts 2:18.
Being a servant means primarily that one puts aside one’s own wants, wishes, and comfort and involves oneself totally in someone else’s life. A servant is there to assist the master in carrying out the master’s plans, wishes, and activities. Sometimes being a servant involves carrying messages, accompanying someone, acting for the person, and doing menial jobs that needed to be done. At other times it involves managing finances and households, but always the servant acts not to further his own ends but to further his master’s.
Gehazi was the servant of prophet Elisha. Being a servant to a prophet was a unique privilege. It involved more than menial labor. It was a type of apprenticeship. Elisha himself had served as Elijah’s servant (1 Kings 19:19–21). Although the job of prophet depended on a divine call, it would seem that this special time of serving together helped the would-be prophet develop his faith and trust in God. By serving his master Elijah, Elisha would be learning to put himself aside and serve others. This would prove to be the best qualification for any future ministry. We have no record of Gehazi’s calling, but we will see the opportunities that he was given.
This servant idea is by no means restricted to Old Testament times. Jesus said that the willingness to be a servant was a prerequisite for any leadership position in the church (Mark 9:35).
Read John 13:1–17. How does this passage show the link between leadership and servanthood?
The disciples have been with Jesus for three years. They have learned from His teachings, they have even shared in His healing ministry, and yet they are not ready to go out as God’s ambassadors. They were ready to learn in theory and enjoyed the association with Jesus, but they still were not prepared to put themselves aside and humbly serve one another.
How do we get the humility and the death-to-self needed in order to serve others? How do we learn to serve others with an attitude of seeking nothing back for ourselves?
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